Thread: iPad Hands on with the iPad
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Old 01-30-2010, 03:32 PM   #83
Harmon
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Krystian Galaj View Post
The problem with becoming potential customers for iBooks is that books in iBooks are set to cost 1.5 times as much as books on App Store apps. That's what Apple promised to large book publishers to get them on board. Now if Apple let other eBook readers compete with iBooks, it would cause the customers to move away from iBooks to those applications. So it would be retarded to let those apps compete with iBooks.
Except that you are overlooking the one-stop shopping convenience of the iBook store.

It's like with Amazon - what's the biggest advantage of the Kindle? It's the Amazon shopping experience. They don't always have the lowest prices, but they have the easiest shopping experience.

Same with iTunes & the App Store. You own a Touch, MacBook, or iPhone, & you are set up with an Apple Account that is hassle free. The iBook app will be the same. The eBook apps, not so much.

Apple will position the iBook store to be the first place the new iPad user (someone who doesn't have an ereader) will go to look for books. A large number of those people will never leave to try out the ebook apps. Ergo, Apple will charge a couple of extra bucks of book price for a couple of extra bucks of convenience. Not enough to drive the customers away. Just enough for the customer to say, "yeah, I know it might be a little more, but it's worth it to me." And a large part of the Apple customer mentality works that way.

At the same time, the ebook apps are a kind of honey-trap for people who are already on the ebook bus. Like the people on this board. Sure, they won't buy from the iBook store because they already know about the other stores, & will want compatible ebooks for their DRMed ereaders. But a number of them (us) will buy the iPad because we know we will be able to access the other ebook stores.

This is a more subtle game than the one that assumes that the iBook store is in direct competition with the apps at every level. It is aimed at selling some ebooks, and a LOT of iPads. And I think that the game that matters to Apple is selling iPads, not selling ebooks. The ebook sales are just pocket money.
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